USAFA DEI Chief's Title Changes

A USAFA grad alerted us to the fact that USAFA’s Chief, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer had changed his title to Chief, Culture & Climate Officer, yet the dates on his service in this same job remain the same: January 2021 to present.

There are so many articles on STARRS.US about the reign of DEI at the Air Force Academy and Looney was instrumental in all this, helping to create the infamous “purple ropes” DEI Zampolits (Political Commissars) of cadets (who reported outside the chain of command) and “advised” other cadets if they were not being DEI enough. But like so many in the government, the job doesn’t change, just the title.

Investigative reporter James O’Keefe exposed this shell game in May of last year in this story, DEI Conspiracy in Air Force:

“We basically contacted everybody who had a title like that and got them to sneakily change their title so it doesn’t sound as diversity oriented even though it is,” reveals Jake Reyna, @DeptofDefense and @USAirForce Operations Research Analyst for the @SecAFOfficial in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Believing Republicans have attempted to cut back on the government’s use of discriminatory DEI policies “just to fuck with the [DEI] system,” Reyna confesses on undercover footage caught by O’Keefe Media Group that the Air Force manipulates job titles to cheat the system out of a higher salary for DEI personnel. Bragging, “We just weaseled around it,” Reyna claims “there’s nothing really they [Republicans] would be able to do.” The cover-up does not end there. Reyna states about his office, “We’re actually moving into this other group called Manpower and Readiness” to stay under the radar.

Here is a screenshot of the Chief, DEI Officer-turned-Chief, Culture & Climate Officer’s LinkedIn profile but with the exact same dates when he started to now.

In an article he wrote for a journal, published in the Summer 2021, he was identified as the new “Chief, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE) Officer at the United States Air Force Academy.”

His bio in part reads:

“Dr. Joseph D. Looney is the Chief, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, USAF Academy, Colorado. In this role. Dr. Looney serves as the USAF Academy (USAFA) strategic leader for developing and refining the strategic vision for diversity, equity and inclusion. He partners with faculty in curriculum development efforts to facilitate and maximize inclusive teaching and learning practices. Additionally, he helps the institution develop and utilize diversity, equity & inclusion institutional data, metrics, and research studies, and benchmarks best practices….”

Here he is in August 2021 in the brown jacket on the right when DEI cadets received their purple rope and certifications as authorized Zampolits:

In the certificate, dated 3 August 2021, his title is Chief, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer: (click on photos to enlarge)

And below he’s standing with a group of all the DEI purple rope cadets in a photograph which accompanied an article (now deleted) touting USAFA’s Political Commissar program, oops, DEI Advisory Cadets program.

Of this program, a cadet recently (February 2025) told STARRS Chairman Rod Bishop that the ropes are gone and DEI is gone. When asked how does the cadet wing feel about DEI being gone, the cadet said, “relieved.” The cadet went on to explain that he had a been a DEI cadet but added that many other cadets in that job went overboard with their position creating discord instead of “inclusion.”

Congressman and now National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said of the purple rope regime, “To those of us who are a little bit older, it reminds us of what the Soviets used to do or what the Chinese do today, where they literally have political commissars inserted at every level end of the chain of command, but they have a separate reporting chain to ensure that the military is abiding by their ideology and their political doctrine.”

So what does this “Culture & Climate” office do?

According to this page: https://www.academyadmissions.com/why/cadet-life/support/

The Peak Performance Center (PPC), part of the Cadet Wing Culture and Climate Department, enhances the well-being and personal effectiveness of Academy cadets as they strive to become U.S. Air Force and Space Force officers.

This internationally accredited center meets the full range of cadet needs and is organized into four divisions:

- General Counseling Services,
- Human Relations,
- Sexual Assault Services and
- Substance Abuse Prevention Education.

Counseling services include

- relationship issues,
- biofeedback,
- stress,
- adjustment to the Academy and military life,
- anxiety,
- self-esteem,
- eating problems,
- resolving childhood abuse, and
- surviving sexual assault experiences.

The Peak Performance Center is also involved in a robust prevention, education and outreach program in the areas of substance abuse, sexual assault and human relations.

The staff comprises licensed social workers, psychologists, behavioral health technicians and certified alcohol abuse counselors who are well versed in the developmental, personal and military needs of the young men and women at the Academy.

The staff is committed to the ethical obligation of serving each cadet while preserving his or her dignity and respect so that they may realize their full potential.

You may be forgiven for thinking this is a Military Academy where warfighters are trained for war (and to handle tough situations like war).